Nicho

Nichos are roadside shrines in Mexico. Joyce at Paper Forest now stocks them so I had to give it a go. The photo does not do it justice, as is usually the case. I rusted the case to begin with, then decorated it with gems. The image of Madonna & Child was painted for WYD held here in Sydney this year. It is a modern image but I think fits the Nicho nicely. The doors close but I am not happy with them yet, so will upload another photo when I have completed it.

The House to house the houses

This is my house to house my houses!!!! The above photo is the back & sides, the photo below is the side & front door. This the flat version, keep scrolling down & you will see the house when it has been constructed.

This is the right hand side.

The left hand side

The front door.

The back.

Well this looks like the backyard dunny only prettier!

This is a first. I cut the walls, floor & roof from mat board. Painted Watercolour paper with Golden paints. Put them through the cuttlebug. I joined the sides & back with extra tacky jac paper then put the embossed papers on, so it did two jobs, holding the building together & attaching the papers.

I used Grungeboard for hinges. Then I used various die cuts to decorate the house.

Harlequin ATC

I made this Harlequin ATC for a friend, I love the die cut!

Round card

I made this car for a relative of mine who is about the hit the big 60. No stamping at all but I think still effective. It was in one of the local magazines a few months ago and this is the third one I have made. They have been quite a hit with those who are not crafty.

Christmas At My House Cover

This is the front for my Christmas at My House book. The nativity scene is a wooden die cut which I just had to have. It fits perfectly with my book.

Nanna's House

This is the second house for the Chunky Book Artist "My House" Swap. This page has become rather special as I used images of my family, garden & photos I have taken.
The lady on the left is my grandmother, as you can tell my the dress it is very old. On the right of the page is another image of her many years younger, nursing my mother with her older daughter sitting beside her.
The rockery garden was at the front of my parent's house many years ago. My own Nanna had a rockery when I was little so it is all relevant....to me!!
The heart punch is a scan of some of Nanna's crochet work, she was a prolific crocheter and that doilie is on my dressing table. the dragonfly, butterfly & tree are punched from photos I have taken.
The background is painted with Golden paints and put through the cuttlebug three times, the bottom part I used the spiders web as well as the distressed stripes.
Again the back of the page is less than average. the background I learnt at stamp camp from the fabulous Gail Hart and the verse is a very favourite of mine and I felt it was applicable to this page.

Paris House

This is another Chunky Book Artists swap called "My House". There are three books involved and I am signed up for two.

The first is my Paris House. I used Golden paints to get the scrumbtious red/green background. Put it through the cuttlebug twice then added the bits & pieces. I must say I am totally sold on Golden Paints the depth of colour is incredible. The Cuttlebug was amazing, giving me the textured backgrounds, the window as well the the design down the sides.

For the background on the back of the page I brayered then stamped. I must say after stretching my imagination for the front of the pages the back comes up a very poor 10th, but I hope to improve with time.

Purple & Orange ATC

I recently hosted another ATC swap using the colours Purple & Orange with only black or gold ink/embellishments. I have always loved this stamp of the three women but haven't used it up until now.

We had 19 players in this swap, another success.

Surrounding Wonders

This is my contribution to the Surrounding Wonders Collab book with one of the members of Paperarts. The first pic is my page. The second pic is my cover for my book!
And the third pic is the inside of the back cover. This is a photo of the backyard of one of our BSL members. Isn't it peaceful!

This swap has been 7 months in the making so I will have great pleasure in handing it over to our hostess to bind & then return them all to us.

Angelic Skinny Book Back Cover

This is the back cover of my Angelic Skinny Book. The one on the right is a bit miffed because she is on the BACK cover, but hey, she should be just happy she is there at all!!!!

On both of these I have used Jo Sonja paints to create the background after giving it texture with Impasto.

Angelic Skinny Book Front Cover

This is the front cover for the Angelic Skinny Book.

It is simple but I think eyecatching.

Angelic Skinny Books

I was recently invited to join the Chunkybookartists group. The latest book is called Angelic Skinny Books and there are 6 of them. I signed up for 2 and these are my pages. It is very exciting waiting for each page to arrive in the mail.

This again was out of the square for me but I think they turned out OK.

Jackie's Luncheon

Jackie's luncheon was a great success.

Almost 40 of us met at Parramatta with ladies from Brisbane, Victoria, up & down the coast of NSW and of course Jackie from the USA.

Rhonda suggested we do an altered coaster swap to commemorate the occasion. This is mine. However mine seems to have been lost in the mail so maybe this is all any one will ever see of it again!!!

Book of Shadows

This page is my contribution to another Collab book. We generally have 6 months in which to do this one, it is 15 pages and we have an extra book to auction on ebay with the proceeds going to our charity of choice.

This year the theme was Book of Shadows with the direction that we needed to include a "spell" in the layout. I will admit that the thought of "spells" put me off somewhat however I found a lovely one about friendship and would have to say that all the "spells" in the book are of a positive nature. Nothing dark or intimidating.

The tag at the bottom is what is held in the pocket. Ophelia is looking into a crystal ball seeking friendships.

The background behind Ophelia is torn book pages painted & then swiped with a black stamp pad. The background to the left is embossed with a cuttlebug folder & swiped with a black stamp pad. The background of the pocket is Alcohol Ink with a gold embossed stamp of various ladies. I love the image of the three friends on the tag, it is frame is done with my nestabilities.

Christmas At My House

I have been very quiet online lately but believe me I have been working hard at keeping up my swaps!!!

This latest one is Christmas At My House. My friend Mary planned it and was aided & abetted by Evvie & John.

We all received a Christmas house book, front & back covers made of MDF board with pages to work on included. We then sent one page to each of the players once complete.

These are mine. Backgrounds are napkins pasted to Canvas Paper using Gel Medium, it gives it a luscious texture. The rest is pretty obvious. Nativity scene, Lights, Christmas tree, gift and reindeer.

I have yet to decorate my covers but will get to it in due course!! I hope!!!!

Jackie's Luncheon

We have a very exciting luncheon coming up. Jackie is one of our BSL members who lives in the States. With a bit of planning behind the scenes one of our Australian members and her sons planned a trip to Australia for her. So we are having another luncheon so as many people as possible can meet her in Sydney.

This is the ATC I have made for the luncheon. I used lots of different backgrounds but this one is one of my favourites, I learnt how to do it at Stamp Camp last year, taught to us by Cathy Daulman.

Firstly I brayered the white gloss card with a multicoloured stamp pad. Then I scrunched wax paper, flattened it out, put it on top of the c/s, a layer of baking paper on top, then I ironed it. When it was cool I dabbed my black stamp pad across it and the wax resisted the ink. Then I stamped it and embossed it with gold embossing powder. I then used the dress & bow die cut that my dear friend Mary gave me. I also embossed the background card with Cuttlebug Swiss dots and so I have the most elegant ATC.

Wax ATCs Take 2

This is the style I used for the Paperart Wax ATCs swap. Much better than my first attempt.

Microscope Folders

This is another Paperarts swap. I have made two folders, I usually do a double so I can keep one. I know which one will be sent to the swap, but I'm not telling you.

Again this was out of the square for me, but am quite happy with the end result, I still think they need something but I do not want to spoil them by doing too much.

The inside of both are the same.

Architectural Tryptich

This is my Architectural Tryptich for the Paperarts group. Another challenge outside of my square.

Luncheon

Well, I think I can safely say it was a success. I am still recovering three days later, just need to catch up on sleep and to try & get my mind to stop racing.

My friend Mary stayed with us and that was fantastic fun.

There was heaps of laughter and fun at the luncheon, with lots of show & tell and finally being able to put faces to names.

This is the ATC I made for the event.

Sydney Luncheon

No piccies this time, just wanted to share my excitement about the Sydney luncheon I am organising for next Saturday 12th April. We had our first one last year with around 23 people attending, this year........43 at this point.

It is open to my online buddies in various craft groups. We are having visitors from Victoria, Queensland, the ACT as well as up & down the coast of NSW and Sydney.

A number of online shops have supported us by sending lots of goodies for "show bags" as well as lucky door prizes. Roll on Saturday!!

More Star Books

My last two star books for a while I think. They are both for friends. The spider web one is actually purple, orange & black. The other one is Navy, light green & cream although the cream looks like white.

I decorated the pages with Cuttlebug dies.

I think they are fun!!

Latest Star Book

My Stamp Camp friends and I decided we would all make our own ATC Star Books and each of us would make an ATC for each other in their specified colour/theme.
Of course mine had to be red, black & gold but no asian or oriental themes.
I have finished my book and have received one ATC so far, I have put another couple in it to help show how it will look when all the ATCs arrive.

Fabric ATC

This is my recent Paperarts swap. We had to use Fabric for the background. I am not keen on fabric, but made the effort anyway.

Star Book

I have just spent the most wonderful weekend away with some stamping buddies. Stamp Camp was Fantastic.

We laughed, played, ate, played, laughed....well you get the picture.

My friend Chris showed me how to make a Star Book, something I have been wanting to do for a long time.

This one is the right size to hold ATCs.

I love it!!

In another life I did many, many Paper Toles. These are just a few that we have hanging in the house. The bird one is the largest I have ever done. The actual picture is about 40cm wide & 50cm high with a depth of 7 cm. The picture itself is quite spectacular, one of my favourites. Unfortunately photos of them do not do them justice.

Rose

This is not the picture I meant to upload, but since I did I will leave it there. It is a beautiful rose stamped onto crackled printed paper. Must admit it looks better than I remember it!!

Cream & Gold

This fortnightly challenge was Cream & Gold with texture & embellishments! I must have been mad!!!! I have seen some exquisite cream & gold cards & ATCs in the past and thought I would give it a try. It is OK but not very creative!

Bees Wax

Today I tried my hand at Bees Wax! Trouble is I could only get bleached not pure, so it does not have the aged affect and I don't have any wax crayons, that I can think of, so it isn't quite what I would have liked. However it is a start!